This Saturday on Newsfile, Ghana confronts two controversies playing out across borders and classrooms, one involving a former Finance Minister now in U.S. detention, the other shaking the country’s education system and reigniting the national debate on gender, culture, and values.
Questions of law, authority, accountability and identity collide. Are institutions acting within their mandate, or are lines being dangerously crossed?
The detention of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has opened a complex legal and diplomatic chapter for Ghana. Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Smith, has confirmed that ICE currently holds all three of Ofori-Atta’s Ghanaian passports, that he was medically cleared before detention, and that the arrest was carried out by ICE, with indications that U.S. federal authorities, including the FBI, were involved at some level.
The envoy also revealed that Mr Ofori-Atta has shut the door on direct engagement with Ghanaian officials, deepening tensions over cooperation as Ghana pursues accountability in ongoing corruption investigations.
With an immigration hearing looming, the stakes are high. If the U.S. immigration judge finds no legal basis for his continued stay, deportation could follow swiftly. But how does ICE detention intersect with Ghana’s extradition request? Has the pursuit of justice gained momentum, or become entangled in legal delays and diplomatic sensitivities?
Also, former MASLOC boss Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu has been arrested and is currently being held in custody in the United States, following the execution of an extradition request submitted by Ghanaian authorities.
According to a press release issued by Victor Emmanuel Smith, she is being detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre, located at 2190 East Mesquite Avenue in Pahrump, Nevada.
The statement confirms that Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu was arrested by U.S. Marshals on January 6 and has remained in detention since then. Her arrest, the release notes, was carried out in response to an extradition request sent to U.S. authorities in July 2024.
At the heart of the matter lies a broader question: what happens when former public officials becomes subject to foreign jurisdiction while facing serious accountability questions at home?
Meanwhile, back in Ghana, a different storm has erupted, this time in the education sector. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) has been forced to recall a Senior High School Physical Education and Health teachers’ manual following intense public backlash over a controversial definition of gender that critics say opens the door to LGBTQ+ concepts in schools.
NaCCA has apologised, admitting the content slipped through quality control, while the Education Minister insists that sex must be defined strictly on biological terms, not identity-based interpretations.
The Minority in Parliament, unconvinced, is demanding the removal of the NaCCA Director-General and Board Chair, accusing them of breaching public trust and undermining Ghanaian cultural values.
Pressure groups and conservative voices warn of a “backdoor attempt” to introduce LGBTQ+ practices through curriculum materials, while education authorities maintain that the national curriculum itself remains unchanged and that the recalled document was only a teacher support manual.
But the controversy raises uncomfortable questions: How did such content make it into approved educational materials? Who bears responsibility? And what does this episode reveal about oversight, accountability and ideological battles within Ghana’s education system?
This Saturday on Newsfile, we connect the dots between power and accountability, law and identity, state authority and public trust. From the detention of former the Finance Minister and former MASLOC boss on foreign soil to a curriculum controversy testing Ghana’s cultural red lines, the issues demand clarity, context and calm analysis.
Also, campaigns have intensified among the five contenders vying to become the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential flagbearer, with just two weeks to go before the party’s primaries on January 31, 2026.
Tomorrow, Newsfile hosts flagbearer hopeful, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, MP for Bosomtwe Constituency and former Minister of Education, as he lays out his vision, ideas, and leadership plan for the party and Ghana as whole. In the discussion titled “NPP Flagbearer Race: Who is Fit for Purpose?”, Dr. Adutwum will share why he believes he is best positioned to lead the party and the nation.
From education to development, policy to people, the NPP flagbearer hopeful will share what sets him apart from the other four contenders in this tightly contested race.
Join Samson Lardy Anyenini and his panel at 9 a.m. on JoyNews and MyJoyOnline as Newsfile asks the hard questions:
• Is justice being delayed or finally catching up?
• Are institutions protecting national values or failing their mandate?
• And where should the lines be drawn in law, governance, and education?
Newsfile airs live on the JoyNews channel on digital satellite channels 421 on DSTV and 144 on GoTV, and streams on JoyNews’ Facebook or YouTube channels on Saturdays from 9 am to noon.
Viewers can also follow the discussion by tuning in to Joy 99.7 FM or Luv 99.5 FM on the radio or stream the discussion live on either Google or Apple Podcasts.
Newsfile is your most authoritative news analysis programme.
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